Crims jailed for hiding 'e-detonators' in robot camel jockey

Booster-dromedary race fix blag backfires

A man and a boy have been found guilty by courts in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi of concealing "electric detonators" in robotic camel jockeys, according to reports. The crooks' plan was to get racing dromedaries to run faster, in defiance of good sportsmanship and local laws.

The Khaleej Times reports on the case today, noting that an unnamed man was sentenced to three months in the cooler followed by deportation for his part in the outrage. Beaks in the city of Al Ain also handed down a month in juvenile care to his 16-year-old accomplice.

According to the Times, "e-Detonators" were hidden "in robot camel jockeys with the intention of boosting the camels in races... the detonators were placed inside the robot jockeys to enhance the speed of the camels, in violation of the existing law".

Camel racing is a popular sport in much of the Gulf region. In former times most of the jockeys were children, some as young as four, due to owners' desire to get the fastest speeds from their beasts. However accusations of mistreatment were rife, and in recent years, lightweight robot jockeys have been introduced so as to avoid overburdening the speeding artiodactyls with adult riders.

It would seem that some unscrupulous people are still at work within the camel-racing community, however, following today's revelations of robotic detonator skulduggery from Al Ain.

The Timesreport doesn't immediately make clear whether the "e-detonators" were merely intended to make the robo-ridden camels run faster due to fear, or whether an actual rocket-like propulsion effect would also have been in play. The use of the word "boosting" may merely have been coincidence.

In addition to time behind bars and deportation for the elder of the dastardly droid detonator dromedary-driver delinquents, the Emir's justices also ordered that the camel concerned be seized from its owner. ®